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tuition of Doctor Ergo was more beneficial consequences. authors, whose works were by

attended with The ancient

him put into

her hands merely as exercises in the dead languages, attracted her attention. She acquired a taste for their beauties, and soon became so addicted to reading, as, at an early period of life, rendered her mistress of an extensive degree of information. But, alas! it is not merely a knowledge of the facts contained in history, nor a relish for the beauties of poetick imagery, nor a superficial acquaintance with any branch of science, that can effectually expand the powers of the human mind. For that great

end the judgment must be qualified to apply them to useful purposes. It was this deficiency which led Miss Ardent to value her accidental attainments at so high a rate, as to make her despise not only the weaknesses but even the domestick virtues of her own Their occupations and amusements she treated with the utmost contempt, and thought that in this contempt she gave the

sex.

surest proof of the superiority of her own masculine understanding.

"From her mind, though the particles of vanity were not expelled, they assumed a new form-instead of the attention to external beauty, feminine graces, and elegant manners, the vanity of Miss Ardent appear ed in an affectation of originality of senti ment and intrepid singularity of conduct. In support of this character, she altogether loses sight of her own, which is naturally gentle and benevolent; and enforces her opinions in so dictatorial a manner, as ren ders her equally the object of dread and dislike to the generality of her acquaintance. And, indeed, it must be acknowledged, that this accomplished woman, in her eagerness to display the strength of her mind, too often lays aside that outer robe of delicacy, which is not only the ornament but the armour of female virtue; and that she never attempts to shine, without exciting the alternate emotions of admiration and disgust." Good heaven, exclaimed I, and. is

this the consequence of female learning? is the mind of woman really formed of such weak materials that as soon as it emerges from ignorance it must necessarily become intoxicated with the fumes of vanity and conceit ? "And did your highness never see a male pedant?" replied the philosopher. "Did you never behold a man destitute of early education, and confined to the society of ignorant and illiterate people, who had by some chance acquired a knowledge of books; and did he not appear as proud of his superiour information, as ridiculously vain, as arrogant, as ostentatious and conceited, as any learned lady that ever lived? or, if a more phlegmatick temper prevented the effervescence of vanity from displaying itself in the same manner, it is ten to one that he was still more insufferable by his dogmatick pedanty and supercilious

ness.

The reason why such characters are not so frequently to be met with amongst men, is, that (in this country at least) the education of boys is, in some degree, calcu

lated to open and gradually to prepare the mind for the reception of knowledge; that of girls, on the contrary, is from their very cradles inimical to the cultivation of any one rational idea.

"In the mental as in the material world, similar causes will ever produce similar effects; let the combination of ideas be attended to from the earliest period of life; let the mind be early taught to think; taught to form a just estimate of the objects within the reach of its observation; and appreciating every thing by its usefulness, led to see, that genius is less valuable than virtue, and that the knowledge of every science and the attainment of every accomplishment sinks into insignificauce, when compared to the uniform performance of any known duty. Will the mind, whether it belongs to male or female, that is thus prepared, be elated into arrogance by learning the opinions of the people of different ages, even though taught to read them in the language in which they were originally written? Will it become less modest, less amiable, less engaging, for

having been enlarged by this extent of information, or will it be less qualified for the performance of social duties, because it has been freed from the prejudices of ignorance, and taught to fill its place in the scale of rational beings? Surely no; I need only mention the name of Lady Grey to give the fullest proof of the justness of my assertion. This young sister of the Ardents had, under the care of a mother eminently qualified for the task, the advantage of just such an education as I have described; but though to all the understanding and accomplishments of her sister, she adds that brilliancy of imagination of which the value is so apt to be over estimated by its possessors, she is neither vain, ostentatious, nor assuming. Accustomed to compare her actions, not with the triflers around her, but with the pure standard of Christian excellence, her virtues are all genuine. For instance, the quality of gentleness, which in woman is seldom more than a passive tameness of spirit that yields without struggling to the